As drab as this sounds, the bigger issue will be location of any of these beers. There are two main concourses inside Verizon Center, full of concessions and humanity. Where will all this beer be?

A map and section-by-section menu will eventually be posted online (and be available for smart phones), but in the meantime, Monumental provided me with that menu. Below please find the full beer breakdown, plus what I believe are the new items on the list. This is why I went into journalism: to help The People.

What about average price? A good selection is nice but I'm not going to pay a premium for exported beer if it's going to be $3 more per serving.

Also, it's OK to have a variety but most of the beers listed I could get at any beer/liquor store. Who goes to a sporting event and orders Czechvar? The only way a variety makes sense is to sell something local. (I'll assume Dominion Ale is local to DC.)

BTW, Bass draught is sold at the barbecue stand behind 229. I haven't paid attention to what else is available on the 200-level this season because I haven't wanted to spend $8.00 for a beer when Green Flash West Coast IPA draught was available for $6.00 at RFD (and my brother was paying).

The beer selection at arenas all comes down to what distributors the team's concessions provider has deals with. And it's usually with the bigger places - so you see the same brands pop up because their tied to the big brewers and companies (big American beers, Diageo - Guinness, Smithwicks, Harp, etc - Old Dominion is partially owned by Budweiser so they get thrown in there). It's not like Ted Leonsis says, "I like Red Hook IPA, order 100 kegs of that to sell". They're not hand picking beers, they're taking what the big companies offer.

In much of the world "Czechvar" goes by its original name -- "Budvar". It is brewed in the town of Budvar, which in the 19th Century was under German control and went by the name "Budweiser". Some brewer from St. Louis borrowed the name of the company's award-winning, highly respected pilsner for the beer he was making in the U.S. After literally decades of legal actions, Anheuser-Busch sells its beer in Europe and certain other countries under the name "Bud", not "Budweiser" and Budvar sells its beer in the U.S. under the name "Czechvar".

AnnandaleAnnie, last month I was in Ontario during Toronto Beer Week and did some research at a Blue Jays game. Some Canadian brands were there, but neither Labatt's or Molson. The most common beers at the concession stands and carried by the vendors of Rogers Centre (the ballpark formerly known as SkyDome) were Budweiser and Bud Light.

Thanks Dan. I was hoping there was a secret grove of craft stuff at some part of the arena that I never see : / but this is really great transparency/research for the consumer by you.

Kev29's point is exactly correct.

I'm a major geek and was procrastinating at work today, so here's a pie graph breakdown I made of these by brewery type and style:

https://sites.google.com/site/verizonbeer/

Dominion's owned 49% by A-B I believe. All the imports are owned by one of the global macro firms (such as Diageo, Cerveceria Modelo who owns Corona, or InBev who owns, but has yet to ruin, Hoegaarden).

Starr Hill (localish!), Fordham, Red Hook and Widmer are all distributed by A-B.

Sam and Yuengling are the only U.S. breweries there not distributed by an A-B size global company.

Although I think I've seen Lienenkugel's there, which is an independent (if not craft-size) brewery).

Goose Island is now a part of Craft Alliance as with Red Hook, Fordham and Widmer, (= same A-B distribution) . . .would love to see their IPA or Honkers at Verizon (or even Prez Obama's fave wheat, 312). Bourbon county stout....maybe I'll save to sip on while watching the game at home.

What about the caps-branded red ale I recently saw from Leinie's, I think, at Verizon? It was mediocre, but the paucity of any hop forward beer or styles beyond lager made it the best thing in the area I was in...

Now I might just have to up my 15-game Caps package to something bigger if Ted could get one of these guys concession space at Verizon http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=news&cd=1&ved=0CCcQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtoncitypaper.com%2Fblogs%2Fyoungandhungry%2F2010%2F10%2F14%2Four-cups-runneth-over-wave-of-local-beer-to-hit-d-c%2F&ei=aMO8TN6MCYSq8Ab-xpXbCw&usg=AFQjCNEJJuzsz99LoPtCVb0qINprGH9y2g

The beer selection at arenas all comes down to what distributors the team's concessions provider has deals with. And it's usually with the bigger places - so you see the same brands pop up because their tied to the big brewers and companies (big American beers, Diageo - Guinness, Smithwicks, Harp, etc - Old Dominion is partially owned by Budweiser so they get thrown in there). It's not like Ted Leonsis says, "I like Red Hook IPA, order 100 kegs of that to sell". They're not hand picking beers, they're taking what the big companies offer.

Posted by: Kev29 | October 18, 2010 4:27 PM | Report abuse

Baltimore-based Clipper City/Heavy Seas craft beers are avail at O's games. It would not be hard for Verizon to have a single cart serving craft beer

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